


complete

by hma1313



Category: Handsome Devil (2016)
Genre: Alternate Universe - Post-Canon, M/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-08-01
Updated: 2017-08-01
Packaged: 2018-12-09 21:52:24
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 852
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/11677797
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/hma1313/pseuds/hma1313
Summary: He’s kissing him.Conor is kissing him.





	complete

**Author's Note:**

> I watched Handsome Devil and spent the entire film waiting for a scene that never came, so here's my attempt at rectifying the situation. Apologies if any of the characterisation is a bit off, it's been a few days since I watched the film.

Ned isn’t even sure how it happens. The team has gone to get changed and he’s waiting outside the building, the shouting and yelling carrying down the corridor and outside, all of them still on a high from winning the match. The door bursts open and Conor is there, running over to him and pulling him into what Ned thinks at first is a hug, but then –

He’s kissing him.

Conor is kissing him.

“I couldn’t have done this without you,” Conor whispers when he pulls away. “Thank you.”

And then he’s turning and running back inside to get changed, leaving Ned outside with the taste of Conor lingering in his mouth and a smile on his lips that he can’t seem to wipe off his face.

* * *

They don’t talk about it for a while. The rugby finals may be over but that just means that schoolwork beckons instead of the pitch, and most of their time seems to be spent studying either in the library or the companionable silence of their dorm room. On a Friday evening when the match seems nothing more than a distant memory, Ned walks back into the dorm room after dinner to find Conor sitting at his desk, pouring over a book and making notes.

“You sure you don’t want to give that a break?” Ned asks casually, sitting down on Conor’s bed. “Talk or something instead?”

Conor puts down his pen and looks at Ned, a frown furrowed into his forehead. “But I’ve got to catch up with all the work I’ve missed.”

“I’m sure it can wait another day or two. It is a Friday, after all.”

There’s some scuffling and Ned looks over to see Conor’s books and paper now in a neat pile at the back of his desk. Conor gets up and sits down on the bed next to Ned, but leaves a lot more space between them than Ned would like.

They sit in silence for a while, staring at the posters on Ned’s wall, the collage that he’s spent ages putting up so everything is in exactly the right place. In the distance, there’s the sound of laughter in the common room, and music coming from a room a few doors down the corridor.

Conor’s hand is lying on the bed between them. It would be easy, so easy, to just reach out and take it – but what if that’s not what Conor wants? Ned doesn’t want to ruin everything, not now.

“What was your favourite part of the match?” Ned asks, in a desperate attempt to fill the silence that he feels is becoming less companionable and more awkward by the minute.

“Winning it,” Conor says without hesitating. “And everything that came after it.”

“Everything?” Ned prods.

“Yeah,” Conor replies, turning slightly to face him. “Everything.”

Ned reaches down and takes Conor’s hand, their fingers interlocking with each other. He looks up and they share a smile and Conor holds onto his hand a little tighter.

It’s a start.

* * *

It’s the end of term, and one of the older students on the rugby team has smuggled some beers into school. Conor gets back to their room to find Ned sitting curled up on his bed reading a book, nowhere even close to being ready to be sitting around outside in the cold for several hours.

“Aren’t you coming?” Conor asks as he changes out of his uniform into some of his own clothes. “I had some of the lads earlier asking if you were.”

“I don’t know,” Ned mutters. It’s definitely a lot better than it was before with all the other lads and the name calling and everything else, but it’s not perfect and it probably never will be, even with Conor by his side. “I might just stay here.”

“Come on, please,” Conor says. “For me?”

Ned puts down his book and sighs. “Fine,” he says. “I’ll come.”

* * *

The party, if you can call it that, actually turns out alright in the end. There are a couple of jokes thrown their way when someone spots them holding hands, and a couple more when Ned presses a kiss to Conor’s cheek later on, but that’s all they are – jokes. They’re nothing to get upset about, so they don’t.

They kiss properly once they’re back in their dorm room, jackets tugged off bodies and hands slipping under shirts. They’re half drunk and laughing as they stumble back towards their beds, kissing and fumbling with buttons on clothes.

They’re young and in love, and although they’re in a boarding house full of other boys, in this moment, it’s like they’re the only two people in the world.

* * *

Ned wakes up to the sun streaming in through the curtains they never fully closed last night, Conor holding him close in the small single bed. The sunlight makes shadows on Conor’s arm that Ned traces delicately with his index finger in the early morning light. Conor shifts slightly behind him, beginning to wake up, arms tightening around Ned as he does, and Ned smiles.

He feels like he belongs.

He’s complete.


End file.
